Perfectionist's Ploy
by Samm Imhart
Summary: It was a cruel world. Two wayward teenagers were tired of their family; their complex background. However, it wasn't their friendship that bonded them, it was their blood relationship which they didn't know. An airborne and contagious disease was spreading and they had it in their blood to stop it as they couldn't get infected. Could they stop it or would more people die?
1. The Reckless Escape

**I kicked off my shaggy shoes as they landed in two exasperated and heavy thuds near the door, capsized. I sat on the wooden chair, which had creaked with exhaustion. The sunlight peeped into the windows, the curtains half-drawn. The milieu was so dreamy that I needed to fight off the urge of yawning and climbing my way back to sleep. No, I had something better to do. I shucked my sweaty school shirt over my head and shrugged on a blue sweatshirt. Slipping a pair of converse on, I gave out a yawn, checked if my phone is still in my jeans pocket, and stood up, limping a little.**

"**Mum, I am swinging by Leah's place. Just for your information," I yelled without looking at where I expected mum to appear from. There was no reply. I waited for a couple of seconds but was too impatient for more time wasted. I slammed the door shut as I stepped out to the cool slap of wind.**

**I took out my cell, searching for 'Recent Contacts' on the screen. Leah Imhart's number was easy enough to find. Black clouds were ominously rolling in and I wasn't fazed by the idea of anymore outdoor activities. A few rings and Leah's reassuring voice came through, "Hello? Javion, is that you?"**

"**Leah, thank god. Are you at home? Can I just come over to, you know, hang around?" I timidly blurted out.**

**Leah didn't seem to have noticed, "Sure, sure, why not. But are you in a safe shelter? It is about to hail, I wager."**

**I was a block away from her apartment, ambling up the path and kicking up gravels, "Yeah, if you come out… wait, no. Don't come out, I am coming. Just wait." I broke into a jog and continued up the cobblestone path.**

**I was greeted at the lobby by Mr. Gravston, who had been fraternizing with a lot of the residents here, including Leah. The air was stagnant and my cheeks were flaming hot and for once, it wasn't out of embarrassment or heat. I could still feel the pounce of icy and relentless air scratch my face as I entered the lift, which had the heater turned on a few minutes ago and after the icy scratches came the hot punches. It felt warm after the icy torture. I pushed the button 'L30', and instantly, the silver lift door closed with ease. The lift had just a few spot lights and the tiny chandelier hanging precariously on the ceiling looked as if it was about to fall on my head. I saw my own reflection in the tinted mirror, to enhance the beauty of the darkness of the lift but all I could see was my own beauty which wasn't really true. I didn't look that good that particular day, though. My straight dark hair, with some draping over my face, was unkempt, my blue eyes, which had reflected as black, were droopy as layers were forming. I regretted not combing my hair properly before meeting Leah. The lift stopped abruptly with a 'ding' and I swayed gently on my feet. Stepping out, I thought of what could possibly happen to me if it really started hailing. Before I even knocked, Leah opened the door with a wide smile. The eyepiece. Her smile faded, "Javy! What happened to you?" Her eyes scanned me from head to toe, eyeing my bruises.**

"**Got beaten up by some punks at school," I shrugged.**

"**That isn't happening to my boy, get in," Leah waved as I forced a tiny smile. A strong smell of cupcakes filled my lungs and I heard my stomach growl reluctantly as soon as I walked in, my hands in my pockets. Leah had light blond hair, green eyes and a great sense of humor. She ushered me to her room, tiptoeing past her parents' room. The door shut silently behind us.**

"**Phew, so, what are you here for, risking your life in the possible hail?" Leah opened her drawer as I sat on her bed. She took out some bandages, a bottle of alcohol and cottons.**

"**I want to talk to you about something," I slurred.**

"**Go on," Leah said as she poured a large amount of alcohol onto the cotton and dabbed my wound. I writhed a little in pain as the gash was huge and drops of alcohol dripped into my wound.**

"**Can I stay here for a week? My parents are divorced," I stuttered. **

"**Wait, what? Why?" Leah was my friend for a lifetime and there wasn't a moment without her there. Relying her on that might help. I gave her a look and she just kept dabbing my wound.**

"**OK, in one condition," she took a ragged breath, "I am in your grade, if you get bullied you should inform me like you did last time. I love bashing them up one by one. I knew you since you were in kindergarten. We are good friends, by the way, we protect each other and don't say that I am lame but that is what friends are for anyway."**

**I laughed soundlessly. "You are too weak, as a boy. I am petite, but you are seriously weak. I am even stronger than you," Leah sniggered. I wanted to laugh back but the alcohol stung too badly. **

"**Leah, are you talking to someone in there?" Leah's mother must have been out of her room and eavesdropping. **

"**Oh, it is nobody. I put my iPad on speaker," Leah put a finger to her lips, glancing at me and at the door frantically. She gestured for under the bed.**

"**I think I heard a boy speaking to you. Leah, open the door! Who is it? Leah!"Her mother pounded on the door. Leah got out her iPad and pulled me down to hide under her bed. I hardly fit but managed. My injuries were screaming and every muscle was tensing.**

**Leah's mother burst in and I could hear Leah yelp and her mother swept me out. She was huger than me as she pinned me to a corner, "Oh, you. Again. You should stop annoying my daughter," She never liked me in the first place, since I almost burned down her house when I was ten. **

**Leah was crouching at the corner of the room, trying to just stand up, "He wasn't annoying me, mother." She managed to spit out the words as she lunged towards me and just tugged her mother away with force. She slammed the door shut. I could hear loud and brutal swearing outside as Leah was leaning towards the door, heaving, relieved. I knew that her father passed away when she was born in a car accident and her mother also had some mental problems since her husband died. Leah had been handling everything on her own and her mother just came to stay for a week or she would have lived on her own.**

"**I… am sorry," I stuttered.**

"**It isn't your fault. It is just my mother. It isn't the first day you know her," Leah looked up to me, "I need to talk to you."**

**I was staring down at my shoes but met Leah's eyes, and nodded.**

"**I am leaving town. Don't expect to see me anymore," Leah sniffled. I was sure I heard wrong.**

"**Leaving? Are you kidding?"**

"**No, just informing you," Leah muttered.**

"**I can come with you."**

"**No. You would have to give up school and soon, you wouldn't be the same again. I want a new life, to restart, no one knows and I would love you, the only person I am close to, to know."**

"**My parents are divorced. I am coming. You think I actually care about my education?" I cried out.**

"**You should. You are only sixteen-"**

"**Well, too bad, because you are fifteen, worse."**

**Leah sighed deeply and tipped her head back, allowing her loose hair to flow. **

"**How are you going to get out of town, though? Transport?" I asked.**

"**The car that mother is going to dump a couple of weeks ago."**

"**You are driving?"**

"**Yeah, got a problem?"**

"**Your safety, well, duh."**

**Leah leaned down to picked up the cotton and the tipped over alcohol bottle with alcohol pooling under it. She placed it gingerly on her dresser and stood beside me.**

"**I know. But I could no longer stand this life," she said dismally.**

"**What makes you think that the other life is better?" I asked.**

**A pause. She shrugged, "I don't know. I want an escape."**

**I turned to her to face her, "I am coming with you."**

"**One word: no. I am telling you this, not to ruin your future," Leah crossed her arms over her chest. She let go and reached for her pocket and fished out something to dangle in front of me.**

"**This is a car key," she said as I saw the metal of the key reflect vaguely everything in the room behind me. **

"**No way are you going alone."**

"**You can live here when I am away. I don't care, as long as you pay for the government stuff as if it is your own house. I am not coming back. Do whatever you like, just not under my name," Leah shrugged once more.**

**I held her shoulders and shook them, "You are not going if you are, I am coming along. You are my only friend." Our parents knew each other like best friends, Leah hated me when I was five, she thought that I was annoying, like every boy would be but I turned out to be the boycotted one, the only one not making any friends in the school because of my socializing skills. She accepted my 'friend request' and I found out her special features. Leah never screamed for famous celebrities or artists and since she was petite, she loved jumping up and down fences, hopping over gates like a horse and swinging on water poles near her house down the ramp. The oblivion of mine to the world was growing bigger and bigger as I grew up. She was the only person who stuck up for me when I got into trouble; she was my only friend. **

**Leah opened the door and pushed me out of her room, sighing. Inevitably, I could only run back home and ponder over the problem for a better and cleverer ploy. **

**I knew that Leah was going to leave town in a week, that was when she could have enough time to pack up and her mother was setting back off to Leah's maternal grandparents. I needn't falter, I was going. My dad had a son, as old as I am, but his other son had a different mother. My mother was planning for a trip to Brisbane, as someone employed her there. I was left alone to decide either to live with my obnoxious 'brother' or to move to Brisbane. Wait, there was one more way, move with Leah. It seemed great.**

**I was lying down on my back and with my arms behind my head, staring at the blank ceiling. My room was as tiny as an average toilet. I looked to my left and saw a black bag under my photo albums. I was practically sleeping in a bunk, the top bunk for the rest of my stuff. I rolled out of bed and thought about whether I should give escaping with Leah a try. The idea seemed wilder than anything. My white T-shirt, which was beneath my sweatshirt, was sticking to my back due to sweat. I was wearing black shorts and as for my wrist; there was a few stringy bands which were made by Leah as friendship bracelets. I knew that if I lost my only friend, I was hopeless. I must take action and not a second should be lost.**

**It was midnight. Tomorrow was the day of eclipse and the fiendish moon only had a curved edged left, like an illuminating smile of a demon. I wondered if it was laughing at me for having such an inexplicable, imprudent and flippant plan. But there was no more ways left for me in my life. I was dressed in cowboy jeans and two straps holding it up and crisscrossing at the back, even if holding up the jeans wasn't necessary and it was only for fashion. I had a pure white long-sleeved shirt in under the straps and in my hands was the dodgy bag, which made me look as if I was about to execute something that would be on the news tomorrow. **

**I came up to Leah's apartment. Although all lights were off, I knew that that girl was up to something. It was fortunate how the apartment parking spaces weren't designed with a garage door and I could see a beaten up van, unperturbed, parked in the space which had Leah's unit number printed on it. The boot of the car was open and I just snuck into the half-full spot. It tang was strong and it smelled like an old musty car with that drafty smell. There was a lift right next to the car, leading up to the flats and units. There was a loud ding and I could see Leah, dressed in a black tank top with blue and tattered shorts, with a pair of fashionable shades. Absent-mindedly, she shut the door of the boot of the car without noticing me crouched at a corner. **

**The door opened, the car vibrated as she sat in, and the door shut. Leah tried to revive the engine but it just kept spluttering as I heard curse under her breath with annoyance. The reluctant and retired engine finally gave in and Leah immediately stomped on the accelerator, making me stagger. The streetlights of the night street peeped into the car window, pristine white sometimes, or yellow. I knew instantly that I was taking a huge risk here, as fifteen minutes soared past. Thinking of a way to show up and not give Leah a heart attack, I accidentally lost my balance as I was fumbling in my bag for a drink and a thump was audible.**

**Leah slammed on the brake. She was humming to the song on the radio but she instantly turned the volume down. She must had looked into the rear mirror at a certain angle, "Javion Hesbil? Come out this instant."**

**I tilted my head up to see her shaking her head, "Oh, my god. How on earth do you think I am going to get you back? Dude! I am driving through hills and valleys and all I could do is drop you off near some sheep."**

"**Don't then. I am not going back," I said. She had taken off her shades and her eyes were luminously green. **

"**I am going to make a stop at the Gas Station near the Blue Mountains. Did you bring any money?" She was holding the back of the seat next to her, pulling her back to face me.**

**I nodded, once.**

**She released her grip on the thin fabric which was about to tear as I hopped to the seat next to her.**

**The Gas Station was nothing like the one a city boy would get used to. There was a half-dangling sign saying, 'Gas Station' and there were only a few exasperated lights trying to light up the dark. A man, dressed in filth came over to us as I winded down the window. He was rubbing his grey napkin, which I believed was white in the first place, in his hands as if he had just been fixing a damaged car.**

"**What is up, lads?" he had a cigarette in his thin mouth as he grinned at Leah flirtatiously.**

"**We want our tank filled up," I replied.**

**However, the man seemed to be waiting for Leah to answer. She also noticed, "You heard him."**

**The man snorted and started introducing us to different sort of fuels as he said that we looked like ''L' platers'.**

**I got off the car, filled it up with unleaded petrol and shut off the lid. Leah was looking into my bag, giving me a fifty dollars note and telling me to buy a bottle of Coke, water and chips with snack bars. There seemed to have no one in the vicinity and the door of the store easily swung open. A metal smell filled my lungs. I could feel my trachea retract and my chest tightened. There were shelves around the store and packets of chips filled the empty shelves. Dust particles stirred as I picked a packet off the shelf. The snack bars were dusty and I clipped it up like a specimen in a laboratory. The water was chilled and the Coke was luckily not expired yet. The man who talked to us near the petrol-filling station was behind the counter, giving me the dagger look to choose quicker. I hugged everything to my chest and gave it to the man and paid for the petrol and the snacks.**

**When I got back, I found out that Leah must have brought a make-up pack along with her. Her eye shadow was purple as she winded my window back up. I passed Leah the snack bar but she didn't seem to mind the dirt and popped the thing into her mouth, returning me the wrapper which I dumped onto the backseats. Sheep and cattle were common in the area we had to stop for them every now and then. We still had a hundred and sixty dollars left in our wallets as Leah stopped at a motel. We said nothing on the way. **

**The person managing the motel greeted us, especially Leah, with a wide smile.**

"**What is your name, sweetie? Staying…?" the man had a broad smile but also cunning.**

"**Oh, Lira," she lied warily, "staying just overnight."**

"**Your boyfriend?" the man asked without looking up from his IMB computer.**

"**No," Leah laughed, waving a hand, "brother. Jax."**

"**Ah. A good-looker!" the man smiled again, which made me squirmed on the inside with unease. **

**The man gave us a non-smoking room as we settled down.**

"**I hate giving strangers my real name," Leah moaned once the man was out of the room, which only consists a wooden bunk, made-up just in the nick of time. It was obvious that the previous person didn't take good care of the walls or the carpets of the room.**

"**Great, Lira, like the name," I complimented, taking out the bottle of water which could last us for a day more. **

"**I need the toilet. Want to throw up," Leah groaned as she clutched her stomach.**

"**Homesick? Carsick?" I scoffed.**

"**I am serious, stop kidding," Leah cried.**

"**Go, then," I murmured. **

**There was a door in between the toilet and the room and I started checking out the new contraptions around. There wasn't much, a packet of coffee beans, two mugs and a few extra sheets, which I didn't expect to show up in a this sort of motel. There was a water dispenser near the sink and it was half-full. I couldn't think of anything smart or wise to do either than pouring myself some beverages. There were even diced up lemon in the container, which was above the water dispenser. I used the mug, which was a teensy bit brown and worn down. However, the water was foul and I had to spit the liquid out. The ceiling was covered in grime and mold, waiting to be scraped off. I couldn't imagine a day in here, without important company, like me as mine shot off to the bathroom once she came in.**

**I had never lived in a motel before and this was the most absurd idea that my brain had ever suggested. I wondered how my mother would react to see me out of my bed; out of town. I smelt like sweat and a cool shower topped my wish-list. The rush of water from the bath made me shudder slightly with envy, reminding myself what sort of trouble I got myself into. It was seven in the morning and if I didn't choose to follow Leah, warm water would be tumbling over my hair and comforting me. It lead to the apprehension of my mother, who might be at home weeping for her son whom she thought was lost or kidnapped, and unexpectedly, she would be finding him in the middle of Blue Mountains, heading towards Bathurst. Or worse, in a motel with Leah. I sat on the bed, leaning against a pillow and waited for Leah to come out.**

**At seven-fifteen sharp, she stepped out, leaving wet footprints and warm air billowing through, dressed in a white and fluffy robe.**

"**Ah. It feels so nice. Javy, oh, Jax, you have got to try," she chuckled and took her clothes, which was heaped up near the bed, "get in. By the way, there are creepy crawlies in there. You can get rid of them if you like. I am getting changed so get in. I have big plans for tomorrow."**

**The wooden door was creaking with tiredness and the hinges were all worn down and rusty. I shut the door quietly before I spotted a slug making its way up to the yellowish tub, which was still wet from the previous bath. There were tissue papers that were pretty useful for picking slugs up and flushing them. Everything in the bathroom didn't look too appetizing to me. Bathrooms were supposed to emit refreshing aurora like lavender or peonies. The bath tub had a yellow brim going around it and mold or fungus was obviously enjoying its stay there. I had no idea how Leah managed to take a bath. I stripped off my jeans and my shirt, wondering if they had lukewarm water if I jumped in straight away. I heard a scream. A high-pitched scream which sent a jitter through my spine. I was shirtless, in only my shorts. Going out would be an embarrassing scene but Leah was out there. I took the embarrassing way. The man downstairs was cornering Leah as she tried to send kicks to his shins. He didn't notice my presence.**

"**You are not Lira. I don't believe you. You stutter. I don't know if that boy is your brother or not but liars aren't welcome in my home. You are not welcome. Leave with that boy now or else," the man was pointing at Leah as he pointed to the door.**

"**I am not leaving, I have nowhere else to go," Leah screamed and as a result, the man raked her over the cheek. I was utterly agitated and I launched, landing myself on him. My unexpected blow pinned him heavily to the ground. We wrestled like mad Siberian tigers as I sent fearful kicks to his stomach. There was a fruit knife that has just fallen next to me and was rusty. As I reached for it, the man took the opportunity to pin me to the ground. He kicked vigorously and tried to bite me but I ducked. I didn't want to stab anyone but in self defense, I had to at least break the rule and gash him deeply. After combating a while, the man wasn't reacting.**

"**Stop!" Leah yelled, amid the brutal fight. I came to my senses, tumbling back. The man didn't move, didn't budge. Leah rushed towards the man, placing two fingers on his neck to check his pulse. "Faint. G-gone. The man is dead," Leah couldn't bear to look up to me. There was a trace a blood trickling down the man's left corner of his mouth. **

"**No. It can't be. I couldn't even hurt a fly," I muttered.**

"**How could you? How could you just kill the man?"**

"**He was hurting you!"**

"**You killed him."**

"**It was accidental."**

"**Nothing you do, is accidental."**

**I drew a sharp and acute breath, "I didn't mean to do that."**

"**I know. But the second day you come with me, you become a perpetrator, is that what you want?"**

"**What are we going to do now?" I hid my face in my hands.**

"**Hide the body and hope no one discovers," Leah sighed.**

"**What? That is a crime, though! I am going to have criminal record!" I yelled. The door of the motel room was shut and I didn't think anyone could hear me outside and no one would bother to even eavesdrop on us.**

"**You already have one," her face was pale and pasty and color drained from her face, "although I had no idea how you just did that." She was obviously too speechless to think, same as I was, brain dead. I opened my mouth but no sound came out, forming an O. Leah was shivering, clutching to her robe, which was still fastened around her body. She was staring at the man's face, placid, facing upwards. I backed away but stumbled, falling over a knocked over chair, which gashed me on the arm. **

**I sprinted into the toilet, put on my jeans and my clothes and staggered out.**

**Leah was also dressed, in a new set of clothes, a pair of pink shorts and a matching cotton top. I gaped at the man, and once I looked at his chest, it was slightly rising and falling, slightly.**

**I fell beside him, ignoring the pain shooting through my arm. He saw me but it wasn't with hatred. "Bandages! Leah!" I yelled over my shoulder to Leah, who had just been aware of what was happening. **

"**Where is the first aid?" Leah opened different drawers frantically, squealing whenever a crawly bounces out.**

**The man, who was now laying motionless on the ground, was now trying to mouth something to me.**

"**N-No… first… aid," he spit out with every single last ounce of strength mustered.**

"**No, don't die," I held his shoulder tenaciously and shook it gently. His eyelids were slightly open. "I am so sorry. No, don't die," I screamed. The dying man's eyelids, again, fluttered and his eyeballs rolled back and the eyelids sealed firmly shut. **

"**He is dead, Jav. Face it," Leah said dismally, unaware of the already-dismal atmosphere. **


	2. The Contagious Beginning

**I could feel the darkness engulf me and I fell into an endless spiral of unknown identity of myself. What was I? What did I do wrong? Did I go too overboard? What would my mum think if police went knocking at her door in the middle of the night once they discovered the body? My mother. She had no idea what I just go myself into. Her son, who topped every grade at school, bullied by bigger ones, had just killed someone with a fruit knife. No. I wasn't going to just let go of my future and let it happen. But I had to, I had no choice, choosing to go with Leah. I felt this special bond with Leah, which rolled in inevitably. **

**I awakened in a car, which my brain immediately registered as moving. "Wait, what, where are we? Where is he?" my voice was raspy as the sleep doused my in dreams. **

"**He?" Leah's voice was muffled, chewing something. I blinked and sucked in the surroundings. Leah knew what I was talking about and I was too tired to bicker. I gave her a cold stare as I was sitting next to the driver's seat. In her hand was another snack bar and her other hand grasped the steering wheel. It was dawn, everything was stained red, especially the sky. **

"**Oh, left him to rot in that apartment," she replied casually. My heart skipped a beat as a jitter clambered up my spine. **

"**Oh, god," I sat up, hearing some joints crack with exhaustion. **

"**Just joking. Take a joke, man," she laughed.**

"**So is he really dead?" I braced myself for the truth.**

"**Not really-"The car we were in was actually different to Leah's. Unless-**

"**Did you nick this car off the car park?" I hollered. **

"**Uh, yeah, well, duh." She took another huge bite of her snack bar which was also the last bite and scrunched the wrapper up. Her hands went up to the rear mirror and twisted it to the left, to a certain angle.**

**The car was ritzier than Leah's previous one. It had a sky roof and a pristine-colored seats and nothing else. It was as if the car was first-hand.**

"**How did you?"**

"**Well, I had a tiny thing that I got from the storage called a hatchet and well, see for yourself, the door on your side, it is severely dented," Leah sighed.**

"**OK… Let's get back to our normal topic," Uh oh, "Is the man dead or not? Tell me!"**

"**There was a second motel manager in the lobby and I just handed the case over. I said he almost committed suicide. Lucky that the second manager is a newbie, he had no idea that his partner in managing the motel wouldn't commit suicide," Leah snickered.**

**Something that weighed like an elephant which was set in my heart floated away. I wasn't a killer. I didn't just stab or kill someone. I could face my mother with pride. Something behind my eyes must have sparkled because Leah, who was observing my reactions all along, said, "You look genuinely relieved. I wouldn't blame you if you are relieved. Everyone is."**

"**Now where are we heading?"**

"**Uh… Perth. I am going south now and I might find a part-time job there and you could too, if you want. We are dropouts," Leah said grimly, without even a trace of regret. The way she said 'regret made me tingle with fear of getting back into reality and being propelled to face my future and work. I had just dumped my teacher's entire hard work of coaching me and now I resulted as a dropout. I sighed with apprehension. I had no choice now that I had chosen. **

"**Leah, have you ever thought that this journey might be tougher than the life you are going to have if you hadn't escaped?" I asked. Leah shook her head.**

"**Trust me, Jav, it'd be just as planned."**

"**Firstly, how would you know? Secondly, wait, you have planned it? Thirdly, if you failed is there a Plan B or-"**

"**Shut up. If I said it'd be fine, it'd be fine." The car she just nicked was pretty stuffy, despite the grand features. I heard a few taps as I closed my eyes and dozed. It came from the roof of the car. The sky roof was helpful as I inhaled and looked up to see crystal clear tiny ices falling on the window. Leah was unperturbed by it and kept her normal speed, which was 110 kilometers per hour as I looked at the speed meter.**

**The din that the impact of the ice with the window made was enough to keep me awake. "Slow down, Leah," I moaned, annoyed by the gruesome atmosphere. Leah just continued. My eyes were shut and my forearm was laying on my forehead, which was starting to weigh.**

"**Leah? Slow down the-" I opened my eyelids, which had appeared to have weighed a hundred pounds, to see Leah, frothing up blood, which was trailing down to her neck. Her hands were trembling and her eyeballs had flipped backwards. I struggled up and felt my stomach gurgle with disgust. The car was driving straight forward itself and it was a one-way road and an incoming car could collide with us if I got caught off-guard. The look of Leah's limp body was intimidating me. There wasn't even one hospital around the vicinity and Leah could die on the spot. **

"**Calm down," I told myself but my actions disobeyed me. It hit me hard as my body became numb and cold at the same time and neither could I breathe. Hypothermia. Leah had stopped convulsing and was blinking, licking her lips to suck the blood up.**

**Her hands were raised up to her chest as she wheezed, coughed and choked. I held her other hand and held her shoulder, which apparently didn't help. **


	3. The Crash

**The only thing I want was outer world connection. Ah, yes, phone. I fumbled in my pocket for it and fished some junk out along the way but as I was in a hurry, my hands trembled and the phone slipped defiantly out of my hands, which sent an acute shock through my spine. The huge gap between the hand brake and my seat was making this irritating tap tap noise as my phone was in there, trapped. I reached for it but my hand was too big for it. Every single attempt was in vain. Something in front of the car lit up, illuminating the day. A horn was sounded. **

**Ugh, a truck was heading our way precariously. But we might be too short to be in their view. OK, we were in deep trouble. **

**I gripped on to the brim of the steering wheel, shaped to fit my hand. The road in front was foggy and the fog lights of the car weren't on. There was a slight change in lights as two white spots merged from the fog. The truck was outlined with iridescent lights that were so tiny that they looked like bugs from this distance. The car was still moving, steadily, totally unaware of the incoming car. There were only seconds between us now and the crash. All I could do was to delay our death. Beside us next to the road was a canopy of forest, nothing else. Both sides were like that. I must make a split second decision. I pulled on the wheel and the car swerved left urgently, lifting the right-sided-wheels into the air. It landed in a thud and the next thing I noticed was that the car was capsized, skidding over the damp mud of the forest slope on its roof. Twigs scraped the side of the car and I could feel the crash of logs. My hand was over Leah's neck, protecting her from the unexpected impact. I was relieved that there was nothing in the car, or everything would have either been broken or spilt. My lung was contracting and my chest seemed to have been suffused with acid. My body was lacking of oxygen and my head was spinning, all images of my mum, with my dad and I, flooded back and then it was times with them, and Leah and her parents. Those were happy times. When everything was together as one. It was practically my dad's fault, for breaking up with mum. No, this wasn't time for pointing fingers. Leah might be dead already by now. She was frothing blood a second ago, now, all the blood in her body must have gathered in her brain, as she was turned over. There were the seat belts, which had just made me acknowledged how important they were. My legs were stranded and strapped between the crooked and wry metal of the remnants of the wreckage. Just when my nerves and my spinal cord was about to snap, something crashed into the side door of mine and time seemed to have ceased. Everything was hanging in plain silence and the chirp of pleasant humming birds, which were native to this area, broke it and compelled me to get out of my welcoming death. **

**I was alive. Alive after a vicious crash. Breathing. My other free hand which wasn't clutching Leah's right shoulder reached up involuntarily to my heart and the thumps of it calmed me and sent a glad chill through my spine. My left leg was suffering from immense pain; I could bear it no longer. I tried extricating it from the rickety metal but it only caused more pain. **

"**Argh," I cried and a shot of momentum cruised through my veins. My leg was out but now I must pull Leah out and I knew that the airbag was half protecting her. The airbag made it harder for me to get my leg out as it was crushing my ribs, which might have already been broken. Acute pain stabbed my muscle continuously, sending away my strength and draining it slowly. **

**Leah's head was tipped back, all pale and pasty and her mouth was slightly gaping open like how a person might when they died. I struggled a little to unbuckle my seat belt then stretched over to reach for Leah's buckle. Her hands were steady beside her sides and I could see her chest rising and falling calmly. I slid my arms under hers and pulled her out, using the rest of my energy. I fell backwards as Leah's limp body was extricated. I slumped against a fallen log which had broken in two pieces and the surrounding logs had oblivion to its absence. **

**I inhaled a deep breath and pulled Leah closer to me. She opened her eyes slightly, to my surprise, and blinked. **

"**God! You are alive!" I screamed. A huge gash was on my leg and even thought the pain didn't hit me yet, it would, soon after I could regain consciousness. There were blood stains on her mouth but she stopped frothing up blood. **

"**What happened?" she spluttered with a raspy voice, closing her eyes.**

"**Well, um, nothing happened," I looked around. Yeah right, nothing happened. **

"**W-Why is our car crashed?"**

"**Hush. Save your strength. Do you know that you just coughed blood up?"**

"**W-Wait, what? I coughed blood up?"**

"**You don't know?" I squinted my eyes, pointing at her accusingly. **

"**Yes I don't know, do you have a problem with me saying yes?"**

"**You were spitting blood a second ago and now you tell me you don't remember a thing?" my voice broke in shock.**

"**I-I was? No wonder my mouth tastes like rust with salt," she feebly sat up and touched her own face. I noticed a huge wound on her face and it started from below her left eye to her right ear. I couldn't feel any wounds on my face but my leg had gave in and the gash on my arm hurt. I had a fractured limb and my muscles felt as if they had been pounded with a hammer ten times. **

"**I can't feel my body, my arms or my legs. Javion?" Leah cried and broke into hysterical tears. I thought that coming with her into the unknown and tour around Australia wouldn't be good. **

"**It is your entire fault, Leah," I cursed under my breath and immediately regretted it.**

**She gave me a dagger look, "Javion. I have known you for so long and I have never heard you, ever, say that. Oh, you are being smarty pants now, are you? Leave then. Don't ever come back here or follow me." She broke into more tears and soon, the tears overflowed and she could no longer talk. She tried to raise her arms to wipe away her tears but I knew that it must have drained all her energy. **

"**Leah, just listen," I closed my eyes again and opened them to see Leah weeping, "I am not turning around after that much we've been though, OK? Whenever I say that, it is also known as I am not leaving you!"**

**Leah was curled up in a ball now, writhing in pain. My red shirt and trousers were torn and Leah's clothes were ripped. The first thing that came to my mind was immediate medical attention from paramedics. My lips were as dry as sandpaper and so was my mouth. My eyelids were droopy and my vision was in a blur. Everything was vague and nothing I saw was clear. My body was torn apart from the inside and my pelvis hurt so much that I could no longer stay awake.**


End file.
